Weighted Grades Pose Dilemmas in Some Schools

Cassie Davis has worked overtime at being the top student in her class
at Highland High School in Nunn, Colo. Throughout her academic career,
she ticked off graduation requirements a year or two ahead of her
classmates and took as many honors and advanced classes as she could
find. And, in the final months of school this year, while other seniors
eased off the books with the pressure of college admissions behind
them, Ms. Davis continued to take classes at the University of Northern
Colorado.

Instead of the expected reward for her diligence, though, her
aggressive pursuit of academic excellence may have worked against her.
Because the weighted grading system at Ms. Davis' school discounts
college credits, she dropped to No. 2 in her class and had to settle
for being named salutatorian.

"I feel that Cassie's been cheated," her father, Jack Davis, said
last week. "They have created a disincentive to pursuing [better
academic] opportunities. There shouldn't be any negatives involved in
going for the best education."

Weighted-grade policies have posed a dilemma for teachers and
administrators for decades, and no more so than at this time of year
when commencement closes in and students are pitted against one another
in the race for class honors.

Rewarding students with extra points for taking a more challenging
course, many educators say, serves not only as an incentive to take
those courses but is fair as well. Yet, the practice is rife with
inconsistency, often leading to confusion and seeming inequities.

For decades, organizations representing high school principals,
guidance counselors, and college admissions officers have been pushing
for more uniformity in grading policies.

Officials at the National Association of Secondary School Principals
say a national policy would be difficult to formulate, much less gain
adherents. For example, the National Honor Society, which the NASSP
administers, provides little incentive to set a single policy because
it requires only that students earn a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale to qualify for
membership.

Whatever policy districts use, however, should be applied
consistently and fairly for every student, said David Corts, the
associate director of the organization's department of student
activities.

Scaling Up

Still, an A often means something different from district to
district.

Weighted grading can add to the disparity. Generally,
weighted-grading policies use a 5.0 scale rather than the traditional
4.0 one. In many schools, for example, students who take the Advanced
Placement classes offered by the New York City-based College Board or
honors classes earn extra credit that counts toward their GPAs. Higher
grade point averages, in turn, can help students get into their
preferred colleges and secure scholarships.

Though not universal, the practice of giving extra weight in grading
to students who take more difficult classes is widespread. About half
the nation's high schools do. Those policies, too, can vary.

"Some schools don't do any weighting, some weight certain courses,
and some only weight classes in senior year," said Patricia M. Riordan,
the dean of admissions at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., who
surveyed nearly 2,200 high school principals on the subject several
years ago. "Their policies are all over the gamut," she said. "There
were a lot of inequities in terms of grades."

Transcript Travails

Colleges look favorably on students with high GPAs. But often, the
numbers can be misleading, according to Joyce Smith, the executive
director of the National Association for College Admission Counseling
in Alexandria, Va. A student with a 3.5 GPA at a school that doesn't
give extra points for a challenging courseload may have taken it easy
in lower-level courses, unlike another student with the same
grades.

The inconsistency "makes the admissions office work harder to
evaluate each student's credentials," Ms. Joyce said. "They have to
look beyond the rankings at the students' courses, their involvement in
student government or other academic activities, or essays."

For many large institutions, it is not feasible to scrutinize
thousands of applications for the deeper meaning in a high school
transcript, Ms. Riordan said.

"An admissions office could say that the grading policies are
identified on the transcripts," she said. "But that is just lip
service. They see a 3.5 and say, a 3.5 is a 3.5."

Rigorous Penalties

With weighted grades, students have the potential to achieve much
higher grades, which may add polish to their college applications.
That's what students in Carroll County, Md., hoped when they asked the
school board to change the district's grading policy to allow the extra
credit. The board voted unanimously last month to permit students to
opt for weighted or nonweighted grades beginning next fall.

"Some students and parents had concerns that they might not be as
competitive because other schools weighted the grades but we didn't,"
said Gregory C. Eckles, the district's director of secondary
schools.

Weighted grades may also provide more incentive for students to push
themselves harder academically, some students say. In an unweighted
system, a student who knows he can do better in a regular class may not
take honors classes for fear of getting lower grades.

Andy Howard, who will be a senior at Greenwood Community High School
near Indianapolis in the fall, said his GPA has suffered for his
decision to take honors English and calculus, which have earned him
B's. In his class of 200 students, Mr. Howard is ranked 28th.

"There are a few people above me in rank who haven't taken honors
courses. They just don't want to work," he said. "I could easily have
gotten A's in regular English."

Valedictory Umbrella

The numbers game has become an increasingly touchy one. Battles with
students and parents, which have periodically ended up in court, are
causing many schools to stop ranking students or bestowing honorary
titles. And weighted-grading systems have occasionally added to the
quandary.

At one San Diego high school that applies weighted grades,
administrators elected to crowd the 42 graduating students who earned a
4.0 or better under the title valedictorian rather than single one
out.

Cassie Davis waged her own bitter fight with school administrators
in Colorado to take what she felt was her rightful place on the podium
as valedictorian at graduation this month. She failed because her 4.26
GPA was less than one-hundredth of a point behind the victor's.

Although district officials say Ms. Davis was treated fairly, they
plan to review the unwritten grading policy as a result of her
dispute.

"She chose to attend college pretty much full time, and the other
kid surpassed her," said Fred Hase, the superintendent of the
877-student Ault-Highland district near Greeley.

Despite the outcome, Ms. Davis said she would not have altered her
path. She has, after all, enough credits to start college in the fall
as a sophomore. But her decision to take harder college courses, for
which she received no extra credit, added a bit of tarnish to an
otherwise gleaming academic record.

"It's not a serious injury, but it makes you feel bad that she was
not recognized the way she should have been," Jack Davis remarked. "She
has already figured out that there is a lot bigger stuff to worry
about. But she got a crummy deal."

Notice: We recently upgraded our comments. (Learn more here.) If you are logged in as a subscriber or registered user and already have a Display Name on edweek.org, you can post comments. If you do not already have a Display Name, please create one here.

Ground Rules for Posting
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.